Believe it or not, we've reached the halfway point of the 2023 college football regular season.
As much as it pains me to type that, we still have a job to do, and that's to find great value in the Heisman Trophy race.
The biggest winner of the weekend was undoubtedly Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel, who stormed down the field to take down No. 3 Texas in the Red River Shootout.
Congratulations to all of those Pac-12 fans still around, you will enjoy this article.
Odds as of Tuesday, October 10 and via BetMGM. Make sure to take advantage of Action's BetMGM bonus code if you're new to the sportsbook.
5
QB Jordan Travis
Florida State Seminoles · +1600
Florida State has been winning games, yet it's falling out of favor of the national media and AP voters.
Coming in at No. 4 in the latest poll, the Seminoles are still in a prime position to control their destiny and win the ACC.
At this point, that's what you're banking on with a bet on Jordan Travis. Even more so, you're banking on Florida State to win the ACC and then one of the three Pac-12 schools in the remainder of the article to come up short in their league title race.
Regardless, at 16/1 odds, there's plenty of value on Travis. The Florida State quarterback is just a couple of feet shy of 1,200 yards on the season and still has an impressive 12:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Coming up this week, Travis and Florida State should be able to take care of business, while the QB puts up a stat line that will help his cause.
But tread lightly here.
4
QB Dillon Gabriel
Oklahoma Sooners · +1200
As I mentioned earlier, the winner of the week was Gabriel. At least one facet of the universe is resorting back to normalcy, as we once again are talking about a Sooner gunslinger in the Heisman conversation.
Gabriel is third in the country in passing touchdowns and sixth in passing yards. He's been lighting it up, and the Sooners' schedule is incredibly favorable for him to continue putting up video game numbers.
Despite the season-ending injury to Andrel Anthony, Oklahoma's offense has continuously put up gaudy statistics, and Gabriel has been the reason for that.
One could even argue the final drive of the Red River Shootout could act as Gabriel's Heisman moment, but we will get into that much later in the season.
3
QB Bo Nix
Oregon Ducks · +600
This is a massive weekend for anyone with hopes of Bo Nix winning the Heisman Trophy. A top-10 matchup between the Ducks and Huskies could potentially send one of the two quarterbacks involved back to the end of the line, while potentially having the winner of the head-to-head as the true favorite for the Heisman.
Nix has been spectacular once again for the Ducks this season.
With 15 touchdowns and just one interception, Nix has the second-best ratio of touchdowns-to-interceptions in the country while completing the highest percentage of passes of any quarterback in the country.
Again, the hope is that a win against Washington sends the current 6/1 odds down to 2/1 or shorter.
Oregon defeating Washington would be a very tough hurdle for Michael Penix Jr. to overcome, and this race would soon become Nix vs. Caleb Williams for the immediate future.
2
QB Caleb Williams
USC Trojans · +225
The reigning Heisman Trophy recipient has kept the Trojans afloat week in and week out. No one has to be less of a fan of Alex Grinch's defenses than Williams, who needed three overtimes to take care of an unranked Arizona State squad.
Even then, the odds on Williams have only continued to drop, as you can grab him now at 9/2 at BetMGM.
If USC is scoring a touchdown this season, it's likely coming from the arm of Williams. With 22 passing touchdowns, Williams has three more than second place.
Williams is also top 10 in yards, yards per attempt, quarterback rating and is 12th in completion percentage for quarterbacks with more than 100 attempts.
It's arguable that Williams has been better this year than last year, but there's a tough road coming ahead.
Notre Dame and Utah are on the schedule in the next two weeks, and a loss would be disastrous for the chances of a repeat.
1
QB Michael Penix Jr.
Washington Huskies · +200
The numbers for Penix speak for themselves — 1,999 yards passing, 16 passing touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Penix also gets the benefit of the doubt as the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, given the history of the reward and repeat winners.
Washington gets to host Oregon this weekend in the aforementioned top-10 matchup. A win likely means this will be the final week of Penix at plus-money until the USC-Washington matchup on November 4.
A win also means there will be significant distance from Williams for the time being.
At 2/1 odds, this is probably the best we will see again for Penix, unless you don't believe in the Huskies.
